Friday 13th - day of the Goddess

Long before Christianity and the strong patriarchal system took hold and began to erase women as the powerful feminine that we are, Friday 13th was a day to celebrate the Goddess.

The biblical story of the Last Super with its 13th guest 'Judas', and the crucifixion taking place on the Friday, contributed in a big way to the day becoming one of negativity and superstition. Add to that the 'witch hunts' that were primarily led by Christian powers and beliefs, and Friday 13th as a day to celebrate the feminine became forgotten and any association with that day feared.

But if we look back to pre-christian times, we can see why this day was such an important one for recognising the divine Goddess.

The number 13 is far from unlucky. It represents the 13 lunar cycles in a year. We know that a females natural cycles have long been linked to the moon, and most women have 13 menstrual cycles in a year too. Women were once considered to hold divine and magical powers when they were bleeding. A source of wisdom and intuitive, psychic messages.

Imagine that? and then compare it to the shame that women have been made to feel around their menstrual cycles in more recent centuries.

When a woman is in sync with the moon, she will shed the lining of her womb on the New Moon, and ovulate on the Full Moon. Why oh why are we not taught this.

I remember my 'sex education' lessons at school, and learning about our menstrual cycles. It was taught in hushed, embarrassed whispers, very clinical, and then never mentioned again. When I started my own cycles of bleeding my mum dispatched my older sister off the the chemist, and I received a packet of sanitary towels (which by the way were huge back in the day) and told to tuck them away in my drawer out of sight. It wasn't my mum's fault, I'm sure she was just mimicking what her mother had taught her, that menstruation should be kept hidden.

For so long women have been repressed. Made to feel that they have to be small, and in the shadow of men. I know much has changed, but in many ways much hasn't.

Friday the 13th is a day to celebrate the divine feminine who creates not just life, but intuition, creativity, nurturing and flow. Its in all of us, male as well as female. A balance, in which lives harmony.

That balance, that harmony has been out of sync for so long. The world needs its feminine energy now more than ever.

Days like today, where we celebrate what it truly means to be feminine are a great place to start.

So may the Goddess in all of us be celebrated today, and if you are a woman, lean in even more to your feminine power today. We have it in spades and its time to bring it to the fore.

Helen x